Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

After reaching the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, Chen Li did not make his progress known; instead, he became even more reclusive, cultivating his Qi in meditation to solidify his realm while studying new spells. He even refused to meet with Hu Buwei who came to visit, citing seclusion as the reason.

During this time, the Water Elemental Shield and the True Fire Skill were successively mastered.

And his proficiency improved at an astonishing speed.

One day to become familiar, two days to master, four days to become an expert, eight days a master, sixteen days a grandmaster...

Chen Li’s strength visibly increased every day, which was one of the reasons he was so reluctant to end his seclusion.

It was an incredibly wonderful feeling, too enticing to resist indulging in.

For over four months, until both the Water Elemental Shield and the True Fire Skill were maxed out and the overflowing spiritual power around him was fully retracted, making it difficult to detect any signs of a breakthrough, he finally ended his seclusion.

...

In the courtyard in front of the cave dwelling.

Three phantom bodies lined up in a row, each protected by a Water Elemental Shield.

In fact, there were more types of elemental protective shields besides the Water Elemental Shield, including Metal, Earth, Wood, and Fire Elemental Shields, all corresponding to the five elements. It was just that the scripture library of the Returning True Sect only had the Water Elemental Shield.

Fortunately, each attribute was different, and their defenses had different focuses, so there wasn’t really a best or worst among them.

Compared to the light blue of the ordinary Water Elemental Shield.

The max level Water Elemental Shield had a much deeper color, looking incredibly solid and practically tangible.

Chen Li watched one of the phantom bodies and took out a second-order mid-grade Azure Cloud Sword from his storage bag, circulating his body’s Meridian strength, then took a leaping step forward.

In a blink, he covered a distance of about ten meters. Concentrating all his physical strength and spiritual power at the tip of his sword, he delivered a standard thrust.

The air was instantly pierced, emitting a sharp sonic boom.

The next instant.

With a loud "boom".

A ring of shockwaves spread out, scraping off a layer of the ground, with dust flying all over the courtyard.

Under such fearsome power, the phantom body was blasted dozens of meters away, but it remained unscathed, and the Water Elemental Shield merely dimmed a bit, evidently far from shattering.

"Truly, a defensive spell comparable to that of a second-order eighth level!" Chen Li thought to himself, "To break through such a level of defense, relying solely on my own strength evidently won’t suffice."

Chen Li put the Azure Cloud Sword back into his storage bag and took out a third-order lower-grade Evil-Slaying Sword to continue the test.

After nearly two years of refinement, the Evil-Slaying Sword, which initially had an aggressive and sharp aura, seemed to have developed a bit of sentience. It had become much tamer and even seemed to resonate with his own intentions, making it truly wondrous.

Perhaps in the future, it might even develop its own Artifact Spirit.

Chen Li grasped the Evil-Slaying Sword and channeled his spiritual power into it. Immediately, an invisible sharp aura emerged, making the air around it blur.

This time, he couldn’t be bothered to circulate his Meridian strength and simply stepped forward, thrusting the sword at another phantom body.

Although it was just a casual thrust.

It still easily broke the sound barrier.

Ever since he had started practicing the Immortal Muscles Jade Bones Skill, not only had his physical strength greatly increased, but his power was also growing day by day. Every move he made could unleash immense power, and compared to Feng Qi, who used to practice the Mixed Yuan Cultivation Skill, he was not far behind.

"Boom!"

The Evil-Slaying Sword struck the phantom body dead on.

The surface of the Water Elemental Shield changed from deep blue to light in an instant and then violently flickered.

"Just a bit more!"

Seeing the phantom body blasted away again, Chen Li thought to himself.

It was only because the phantom body was a magical illusion with no actual substance or weight that it was unaffected by physical blows; a real cultivator would likely have been killed once their shield was breached.

Chen Li stepped forward and landed another blow.

This time, the shield shattered without a doubt.

Feeling that most of his spiritual power had been depleted, Chen Li took out a porcelain bottle and swallowed two Harmonizing Qi Elixirs, planning to rest briefly before continuing to test the True Fire Skill.

At that moment, a distant bell rang from the mountain peak, penetrating the arrays.

Chen Li paused in surprise.

"This bell toll... could it be that the Golden Core Ancestor has emerged from seclusion."

However, the joy that just surfaced on his face rapidly solidified.

The bell continued to ring relentlessly.

Once, twice... After nine continuous tolls, it stopped.

A thump echoed in Chen Li’s heart, and his complexion became incredibly grave.

Nine bell tolls signified something he knew all too well, an emergency summons when the sect might be facing an existential crisis, the highest state of alert!

How could this be?

The recent days had been calm, with no apparent signs.

Could it be that another sect has come to attack?

"Husband!"

As he was lost in thought, Zhou Hong and Zhang Shuniang hurried out upon hearing the bell, their faces full of worry.

"Don’t panic just yet. You two hide in the basement and don’t come out. I’ll leave an illusion to protect you while I go out and see what’s happening. It may just be a false alarm," Chen Li quickly said.

Then, he dispelled one of his illusions, leaving the last one to protect the two women.

The illusion could last a very long time, well over an hour, and these illusions had only been released a few minutes ago.

The two women were not unfamiliar with illusions. After all, they had seen too many in the past one or two years, and sometimes, when they didn’t speak, it was hard to distinguish between real and fake.

"I understand!" Zhou Hong said anxiously, "You also need to be careful."

"Husband, don’t worry about us," Zhang Shuniang added.

Chen Li nodded without saying anything more.

He left the cave dwelling and his body soared into the air, swiftly heading toward the peak of the mountain.

The entire sect was in disarray, with cultivators flying back and forth, maneuvering their magic artifacts.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, do you know what’s happening?"

He had not flown far when someone called out to him. The man was a middle-aged Foundation Establishment cultivator. Chen Li remembered that his surname was Lu and his name was Chongfeng, with whom he had some acquaintance.

"I do not know either, I’m just as confused," Chen Li spread his hands.

"Alas, the Ancestor has not emerged yet, what should we do now?" Lu Chongfeng said with a face full of worry.

Chen Li said nothing.

Now, he wondered if it was still possible to flee in time?

He had no intention of fighting to the death for the Returning True Sect. The limited kindness he owed to the sect was repaid during the previous conflict with the Tianxing Sect. After all, he was just a Guest Elder, not a disciple nurtured by the sect from childhood.

In essence, he was just a worker.

He had no resolve to live and die with the sect.

While the Ancestor was alive, he still had reservations. Now that the Ancestor’s fate was unknown, there was even less pressure.

...

In the time it took for a few words, Chen Li and Lu Chongfeng had already arrived at the discussion hall.

He was rather late; there were already quite a few people here. Inside it was as noisy as a marketplace, buzzing with sound.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, over here!" Xiao Yuan saw Chen Li arrive and quickly waved him over.

Chen Li walked over, where Wen Hui, Peng Yan and several other acquaintances were present. Right now, he had no intention to greet everyone one by one and directly asked, "I have been in closed cultivation recently; do any of you know what has happened?"

"A Third Order demon beast has appeared. It was spotted around Yongning District a few times previously, but the minister in charge of mundane affairs kept it a secret, known only to a few. Unexpectedly, today it suddenly showed up nearby. Just a while ago, it was hovering around the sect gates for quite some time," Xiao Yuan spoke with a solemn expression:

"We were discussing just now and guess that this must be a beast that was driven out of its territory. It seems to have its eyes on the Third Order spirit vein here. The reason it’s just hovering is because it’s still probing. Once it finds out there is no significant threat, what follows might not be just probing."

"Hiss!"

On hearing this, Chen Li couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.

"Where is this demon beast now?" Chen Li asked.

"So far, there’s been no sight of it."